scholarly journals A complex interplay between balancing selection and introgression maintains a genus-wide alternative life-history strategy.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
kalle tunström ◽  
Alyssa Woronik ◽  
Joseph J Hanly ◽  
Pasi Rastas ◽  
Anton Chichvarkhin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Balancing Selection ◽  
Genetic Locus ◽  
Regulatory Region ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Pigment Synthesis ◽  
Evolutionary Forces

Alternative life-history strategies (ALHS) are genetic polymorphisms generating phenotypes differing in life histories that generally arise due to metabolic resource allocation tradeoffs. Althouigh ALHS are often be limited to a single sex or populations of a species, they can, in rare cases, be found among several species across a genus. In the butterfly genus Colias, at least a third of the species have a female limited ALHS called Alba. While many females develop brightly pigmented wings, Alba females reallocate nitrogen resources used in pigment synthesis to reproductive development, producing white-winged, more fecund females. Whether this ALHS evolved once or many times, and whether it has moved among species via introgression or been maintained via long-term balancing selection, has not been established. Answering these questions presents an opportunity to investigate the genetic basis and evolutionary forces acting upon ALHS, which have rarely been studied at a genus level. Here we identify the genetic locus of Alba in a second Colias species, allowing us to compare this with previous results in a larger phylogenetic context. Our findings suggest Alba has a singular origin and has been maintained in Colias through a combination of balancing selection and introgression for nearly one million years and at least as many generations. Finally, using CRISPR/Cas9 deletions in the cis-regulatory region of the Alba allele, we demonstrate that the Alba allele is a modular enhancer for the BarH1 gene and is necessary for the induction of the ALHS, which potentially facilitates its long-term persistence in the genus.

scholarly journals A transposable element insertion is associated with an alternative life history strategy

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyssa Woronik ◽  
Kalle Tunström ◽  
Michael W. Perry ◽  
Ramprasad Neethiraj ◽  
Constanti Stefanescu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Transposable Element ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Transposable Element Insertion ◽  
Specific Expression ◽  
Pigment Synthesis ◽  
Somatic Development ◽  
Element Insertion ◽  
Antibody Staining

AbstractTradeoffs affect resource allocation during development and result in fitness consequences that drive the evolution of life history strategies. Yet despite their importance, we know little about the mechanisms underlying life history tradeoffs. Many species of Colias butterflies exhibit an alternative life history strategy (ALHS) where females divert resources from wing pigment synthesis to reproductive and somatic development. Due to this reallocation, a wing color polymorphism is associated with the ALHS: either yellow/orange or white. Here we map the locus associated with this ALHS in Colias crocea to a transposable element insertion located downstream of the Colias homolog of BarH-1, a homeobox transcription factor. Using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, antibody staining, and electron microscopy we find white-specific expression of BarH-1 suppresses the formation of pigment granules in wing scales and gives rise to white wing color. Lipid and transcriptome analyses reveal physiological differences associated with the ALHS. Together, these findings characterize a mechanism for a female-limited ALHS.

scholarly journals Do human ‘life history strategies’ exist?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Sear
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Life History ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Environmental Influences ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Human Sciences

Interest in incorporating life history research from evolutionary biology into the human sciences has grown rapidly in recent years. Two core features of this research have the potential to prove valuable in strengthening theoretical frameworks in the health and social sciences: the idea that these is a fundamental trade-off between reproduction and health; and that environmental influences are important in determining individual life histories. For example, the idea that mortality risk in the environment shifts individuals along a ‘fast-slow continuum’ of ‘life history strategy’ is now popular in the evolutionary human sciences. In biology, ‘fast’ life history strategists prioritise reproduction over health so that individuals grow quickly, reproduce early and often, and suffer a rapid deterioration in health and relatively early death; ‘slow’ strategists start reproducing later, have fewer offspring, and die at an older age. Evolutionary human scientists tend to assume that, along with these life history outcomes, several behavioural traits, such as parenting, mating and risk-taking behaviour and, in the most expansive version, a whole suite of psychological and personality traits also cluster together into ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ life histories. Here, I review the different approaches to life history strategies from evolutionary anthropologists, developmental psychologists and evolutionary psychologists, in order to assess the theoretical and empirical evidence for human ‘life history strategies’. While there is precedent in biology for the argument that some behavioural traits, notably risk-taking behaviour, may be linked in predictable ways with life history outcomes, there is relatively little theoretical or empirical justification for including a very wide range of behavioural traits in a ‘life history strategy’. Given the diversity and lack of consistency in this human life history literature, I then make recommendations for improving its usefulness: 1) greater clarity over terminology, so that a distinction is made between life history outcomes such as age at maturity, first birth and death, and behavioural traits which may be associated with life history outcomes but are not life history traits themselves; 2) more empirical data on linkages between life history traits, behavioural traits and the environment, including the underlying mechanisms which generate these linkages; 3) more empirical work on life history strategies in a much broader range of populations than has so far been studied. Such a research programme on human life history has the potential to produce valuable insights for the health and social sciences, not least because of its interest in environmental influences on health, reproduction and behaviour.

scholarly journals Drought frequency predicts life history strategies in Heliophila

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Grey Monroe ◽  
Brian Gill ◽  
Kathryn Turner ◽  
John K McKay
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Perennial Species ◽  
Drought Frequency ◽  
Occurrence Records

Explaining variation in life history strategies is a long-standing goal of evolutionary biology. For plants, annual and perennial life histories are thought to reflect adaptation to environments that differ in the frequency of stress events such as drought. Here we test this hypothesis in Heliophila (Brassicaceae), a diverse genus of flowering plants native to Africa, by integrating 34 years of satellite-based drought measurements with 2192 herbaria occurrence records. Consistent with predictions from classic life history theory, we find that perennial Heliophila species occur in environments where droughts are significantly less frequent compared to annuals. These associations are predictive while controlling for phylogeny, lending support to the hypothesis that drought related natural selection has influenced the distributions of these strategies. Additionally, the collection dates of annual and perennial species indicate that annuals escape drought prone seasons during the seed phase of their life cycle. Together, these findings provide empirical support for classic hypotheses about the drivers of life history strategy in plants - that perennials out compete annuals in environments with less frequent drought and that annuals are adapted to environments with more frequent drought by escaping drought prone seasons as seeds.

Effect of time of day, time of year, and life history strategy on time budgeting in juvenile Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar

1999 ◽  
Vol 56 (12) ◽  
pp. 2397-2403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sveinn K Valdimarsson ◽  
Neil B Metcalfe
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Atlantic Salmon ◽  
Salmo Salar ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Atlantic Salmon Salmo Salar ◽  
Juvenile Atlantic Salmon ◽  
Time Of Year

Traditionally, behavioural studies on juvenile Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, have been conducted during the day in summer. It is known that Atlantic salmon become nocturnal in winter, but very little is known about their behaviour at that time. Therefore, observations in a seminatural stream were carried out during the day and night, from February to June, comparing diel and seasonal differences in behaviour between fish adopting alternative life history strategies. The results showed a general trend for more activity in spring than in winter, and the fish were found to be foraging at surprisingly low light levels. There were differences in relative feeding rate between the life history strategies; the early migrant fish foraged mostly during the day whereas the delayed migrant fish did more foraging at night. There is some evidence that the early migrant fish made fewer feeding attempts over the winter, which is surprising, since they grow faster over that period. This suggests differences in foraging efficiency, which could contribute to the separation into these two life history strategies.

Life History Strategies

2018 ◽  
pp. 95-126
Author(s):  
Marco Del Giudice
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Current Theory ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Extended Model ◽  
Life History Variation ◽  
Basic Model

The chapter introduces the basics of life history theory, the concept of life history strategy, and the fast–slow continuum of variation. After reviewing applications to animal behavior and physiology, the chapter reviews current theory and evidence on individual differences in humans as manifestations of alternative life history strategies. The chapter first presents a “basic model” of human life history–related traits, then advances an “extended model” that identifies multiple cognitive-behavioral profiles within fast and slow strategies. Specifically, it is proposed that slow strategies comprise prosocial/caregiving and skilled/provisioning profiles, whereas fast strategies comprise antisocial/exploitative and seductive/creative profiles. The chapter also reviews potential neurobiological markers of life history variation and considers key methodological issues in this area.

scholarly journals RETRACTED ARTICLE: Novel life history strategy in a deep sea fish challenges assumptions about reproduction in extreme environments

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Randal A. Singer ◽  
Jon A. Moore ◽  
Edward L. Stanley
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Homogeneous System ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Life History Trait ◽  
Retracted Article ◽  
Sea Fish

Abstract The deep ocean is frequently assumed to be a homogeneous system lacking the same diverse life history strategies found in shallower waters. However, as our methods for exploring the deep ocean improve, common assumptions about dispersal, reproduction and behavior are constantly being challenged. Fishes exhibit the most diverse reproductive strategies among vertebrates. Understanding life history strategies in deep-sea environments is lacking for many species of fishes. Here, we report a novel reproductive strategy where a fish (Parazen pacificus) provides parental care via mouth brooding. This behavior is observed from a specimen collected with eggs present in the buccal cavity, along with other specimens exhibiting pre-brooding morphologies. This is the first description of this unique life history trait in a deep-sea fish and fills in a gap in the larval literature for this family of fishes and prompts further investigation into other novel reproductive modes of deep-sea fauna.

scholarly journals Evolution of Divergent Life History Strategies in Marine Alphaproteobacteria

mBio ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiwei Luo ◽  
Miklós Csűros ◽  
Austin L. Hughes ◽  
Mary Ann Moran
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Carbon Mineralization ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Heterotrophic Bacterioplankton ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Eukaryotic Phytoplankton ◽  
Microbial Groups

ABSTRACT Marine bacteria in the Roseobacter and SAR11 lineages successfully exploit the ocean habitat, together accounting for ~40% of bacteria in surface waters, yet have divergent life histories that exemplify patch-adapted versus free-living ecological roles. Here, we use a phylogenetic birth-and-death model to understand how genome content supporting different life history strategies evolved in these related alphaproteobacterial taxa, showing that the streamlined genomes of free-living SAR11 were gradually downsized from a common ancestral genome only slightly larger than the extant members (~2,000 genes), while the larger and variably sized genomes of roseobacters evolved along dynamic pathways from a sizeable common ancestor (~8,000 genes). Genome changes in the SAR11 lineage occurred gradually over ~800 million years, whereas Roseobacter genomes underwent more substantial modifications, including major periods of expansion, over ~260 million years. The timing of the first Roseobacter genome expansion was coincident with the predicted radiation of modern marine eukaryotic phytoplankton of sufficient size to create nutrient-enriched microzones and is consistent with present-day ecological associations between these microbial groups. We suggest that diversification of red-lineage phytoplankton is an important driver of divergent life history strategies among the heterotrophic bacterioplankton taxa that dominate the present-day ocean. IMPORTANCE One-half of global primary production occurs in the oceans, and more than half of this is processed by heterotrophic bacterioplankton through the marine microbial food web. The diversity of life history strategies that characterize different bacterioplankton taxa is an important subject, since the locations and mechanisms whereby bacteria interact with seawater organic matter has effects on microbial growth rates, metabolic pathways, and growth efficiencies, and these in turn affect rates of carbon mineralization to the atmosphere and sequestration into the deep sea. Understanding the evolutionary origins of the ecological strategies that underlie biochemical interactions of bacteria with the ocean system, and which scale up to affect globally important biogeochemical processes, will improve understanding of how microbial diversity is maintained and enable useful predictions about microbial response in the future ocean.

scholarly journals Live Fast, Die Young, and Sleep Later: Life History Strategy and Human Sleep Behavior

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahe Dishakjian ◽  
Daniel M T Fessler ◽  
Adam Maxwell Sparks
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Sleep Duration ◽  
Sleep Onset ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
The Body ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Sleep Onset Latency ◽  
Sleep Behaviors

Abstract Background and objectives Life History Theory (LHT) describes trade-offs that organisms make with regard to three investment pathways: growth, maintenance, and reproduction. In light of the reparative functions of sleep, we examine sleep behaviors and corresponding attitudes as proximate manifestations of an individual’s underlying relative prioritization of short-term reproduction versus long-term maintenance. Methodology We collected survey data from 568 participants across two online studies having different participant pools. We use a mixture of segmented and hierarchical regression models, structural equation modeling, and machine learning to infer relationships between sleep duration/quality, attitudes about sleep, and biodemographic/psychometric measures of life history strategy (LHS). Results An age-mediated U- or V-shaped relationship appears when LHS is plotted against habitual sleep duration, with the fastest strategies occupying the sections of the curve with the highest mortality risk: < 6.5 hours (short sleep) and > 8.5 hours (long sleep). LH “fastness” is associated with increased sleepiness and worse overall sleep quality: delayed sleep onset latency, more wakefulness after sleep onset, higher sleep-wake instability, and greater sleep duration variability. Hedonic valuations of sleep may mediate the effects of LHS on certain sleep parameters. Conclusions and implications The costs of deprioritizing maintenance can be parameterized in the domain of sleep, where “life history fastness” corresponds with sleep patterns associated with greater senescence and mortality. Individual differences in sleep having significant health implications can thus be understood as components of lifelong trajectories likely stemming from calibration to developmental circumstances. Relatedly, hedonic valuations of sleep may constitute useful avenues for non-pharmacological management of chronic sleep disorders. LAY Summary Sleep is essential because it allows the body to repair and maintain itself. But time spent sleeping is time that cannot be spent doing other things. People differ in how much they prioritize immediate rewards, including sociosexual opportunities, versus long-term goals. In this research, we show that individual differences in sleep behaviors, and attitudes toward sleep, correspond with psychological and behavioral differences reflecting such differing priorities. Orientation toward sleep can thus be understood as part of the overall lifetime strategies that people pursue.

scholarly journals Correction: Long-term fish assemblages of the Ohio River: Altered trophic and life history strategies with hydrologic alterations and land use modifications

PLoS ONE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. e0218915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Pyron ◽  
Meryl C. Mims ◽  
Mario M. Minder ◽  
Robert C. Shields ◽  
Nicole Chodkowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Life History ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Ohio River ◽  
Hydrologic Alterations

scholarly journals Patterns of Life-History Diversification in North American Fishes: implications for Population Regulation

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (10) ◽  
pp. 2196-2218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirk O. Winemiller ◽  
Kenneth A. Rose
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
North American ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Large Species ◽  
High Fecundity ◽  
Adult Growth ◽  
Trade Offs

Interspecific patterns of fish life histories were evaluated in relation to several theoretical models of life-history evolution. Data were gathered for 216 North American fish species (57 families) to explore relationships among variables and to ordinate species. Multivariate tests, performed on freshwater, marine, and combined data matrices, repeatedly identified a gradient associating later-maturing fishes with higher fecundity, small eggs, and few bouts of reproduction during a short spawning season and the opposite suite of traits with small fishes. A second strong gradient indicated positive associations between parental care, egg size, and extended breeding seasons. Phylogeny affected each variable, and some higher taxonomic groupings were associated with particular life-history strategies. High-fecundity characteristics tended to be associated with large species ranges in the marine environment. Age at maturation, adult growth rate, life span, and egg size positively correlated with anadromy. Parental care was inversely correlated with median latitude. A trilateral continuum based on essential trade-offs among three demographic variables predicts many of the correlations among life-history traits. This framework has implications for predicting population responses to diverse natural and anthropogenic disturbances and provides a basis for comparing responses of different species to the same disturbance.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document